Wynton Marsalis
Biography

The most popular and acclaimed jazz musician and composer of his generation and a distinguished classical performer, Wynton Marsalis has by force of personality, intelligence, and achievement brought jazz back to center stage in American culture. Born October 18, 1961 in New Orleans, the second of six sons of Dolores and Ellis Marsalis, Wynton Marsalis began studying trumpet seriously at age 12. During high school he performed in local marching bands, jazz bands, funk bands and classical orchestras, and at age 18 he moved to New York to attend the Juilliard School. In the summer of 1980 he became a member of Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers, and that same year signed with Columbia Records. Since his self-titled debut was released in 1982, Marsalis has recorded over 30 jazz and classical albums for Columbia and for Sony Classical and has made guest appearances on countless others. He has taken his jazz groups to 30 countries on six continents, performing more than 120 concerts per year for each of the past twelve years. Marsalis disbanded his septet at the end of 1994 in order to devote more attention to composition.

Marsalis serves as Artistic Director for the internationally recognized Jazz at Lincoln Center programme, which he co-founded in 1987. Under Wynton's leadership, the Jazz Department earned the distinction of being named Lincoln Center's first new constituent organization since 1969. Several commissioned works for the program are among his most recent successes as a composer. "Blood on the Fields", his 1994 epic oratorio on slavery, was named one of the top ten music highlights of the year by Time Magazine. The New York Times Magazine said the work "marked the symbolic moment when the full heritage of the line, Ellington through Mingus, was extended into the present... It also reflects a full awareness of Copland and Stravinsky." This historic commission is his first composition for big band, and his first for more than one singer. An international tour for "Blood on the Fields", presented by Jazz at Lincoln Center in early 1997, featured vocalists Cassandra Wilson, Jon Hendricks, and Miles Griffith with the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra. The work was released as a three-CD set by Columbia in April 1997.

The extended septet work "In This House on This Morning", which was premiered at Lincoln Center in 1983 and released on CD by Columbia in 1994, was termed a "spiritual feast" and a "masterpiece" by Ebony Magazine. Marsalis' first String Quartet, "(at the) Octoroon Balls" was premiered by the Orion String Quartet in May 1995 and was presented in conjunction with Lincoln Center's Chamber Music Society. David Shifrin, the Artistic Director for the Chamber Music Society, said of the artist and his work, "Wynton is one of the most consummate musicians I know. With '(at the) Octoroon Balls' he brilliantly fused elements from the world of chamber music, jazz and improvisation into the most seriously regarded of all chamber music forms, the string quartet."

Marsalis has also shown a special interest in composing for dance. His next release for Sony Classical was a single disc of both Jazz/Six Syncopated Movements and Jump Start, which were written for ballets by Peter Martins and Twyla Tharp respectively. The New York Times rated the score of Jump Start as simply "superb", and Newsweek wrote that Jazz contained "verve and vigor rarely heard at the ballet." The CD was released in August 1997. His most recent Jazz at Lincoln Center commission was for the ballet Sweet Release, which marked his first collaboration with Judith Jamison of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. The New York Post called the score "fascinatingly textured" and the New York Times described it as "sly and exuberant". Sweet Release premiered in six performances during the Lincoln Center Festival '96 at the New York State Theatre. Marsalis also collaborated with Garth Fagan to create a three-movement symphony for seven pieces, Citi Movement/Griot New York, his first music for dance as well as his first extended work.

In Gabriel's Garden, also released by Sony Classical, has remained on Billboard's Classical Albums chart since it was released in May 1996. The collection of Baroque music includes Bach's Brandenburg Concerto No. 2 and Mouret's Rondeau, a video of which has been adopted as the new theme for PBS's "Masterpiece Theater". The San Francisco Examiner wrote "Marsalis continues to define great musicmaking... (the songs) are all articulated with dazzling clarity and enthusiasm." The album was recorded with the English Chamber Orchestra under the baton of Anthony Newman and was produced by Steve Epstein.

Education is a top priority for Marsalis. One of the most successful aspects of the Jazz at Lincoln Center programme has been Marsalis' Jazz for Young People series, which has become a favourite for New Yorkers. While on the road with his bands and with the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, Marsalis regularly conducts master classes in local schools, and spends hours tutoring the students who reach out to him. He won a Peabody Award in 1996 for his informative 26-part National Public Radio series, "Making the Music", which was based on Jazz for Young People, and was accompanied by a Sony Classical home video as well as a companion book with CD published by W.W. Norton. USA Today gave the TV series four out of a possible four stars, and wrote it is "a thrilling four-part seminar of music appreciation written and literally conducted by the affable Wynton Marsalis. Comparisons to Leonard Bernstein famed 'Young People's Concerts' are appropriate."

This book release followed 1994's Sweet Swing Blues on the Road, an in-depth chronicle of Marsalis' touring life. His personal thoughts are accompanied by Frank Stewart's photographs in this first-hand portrayal of the travels and camaraderie of a jazz band. The Los Angeles Times Book Review described the book as "laden with insight and anecdote and a lexicon unique to modern-day jazz," and JazzTimes praised Marsalis by saying "He writes warmly and well about his men as a group, and about their musicianship and personalities," adding further that the book is replete with "original thought and expression."

Marsalis has been awarded the Grand Prix du Disque of France, the Edison Award of the Netherlands, was elected an Honorary Member of England's Royal Academy of Music, in addition to receiving eight Grammy Awards for his jazz and classical recordings. In recognition of the many hours he has contributed to music education, community organizations and charities, he has been given keys to cities across the country, all types of community service awards, and a Congressional citation. In May of 1997 he received honorary doctorate degrees from Rutgers University and Amherst College; these honours will be added to the list of colleges and universities which have recognized him, including Yale, Princeton, Brown, Columbia, John Hopkins, Brandeis, Manhattan School of Music and University of Miami. He spoke at the National Press Club in November 1995, and was profiled by "60 Minutes" that December. He has been the subject of cover stories for Life Magazine, Time Magazine, Parade, Sunday New York Times Magazine, Sunday Los Angeles Times Calendar, London Times Magazine, and Esquire (UK), as well as numerous appearances on the covers of JazzTimes, Downbeat, and Jazziz. In 1996, Time Magazine named him among America's 25 Most Influential People.

In 1997 Wynton became the first musician to receive a Pulitzer award for his creation "Blood On The Fields."